It is International Women’s Day, and we saw this set of images of what women are doing in the world and then saw this story: Source: In celebration of International Women’s Day, we’re honoring 15 women who are using their voices, leadership and influence to make progress for girls’ education globally. March 08, 2015 by GPE Secretariat Across the globe, about 31 million girls of primary school age are not in school. And in Sub-Saharan Africa, it’s estimated that if current trends... Read more
Almighty God, You know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. BCP Read more
Jared Hopkins: “I want to play in the major leagues, of course,” he said, his face curving into a smile to show braces. “I am passionate about the game. I am focused.” Can Paulino reach his goal? He’s certainly in the right country to get there. The Dominican Republic delivers more talent to the major leagues than any other country besides the United States. Kids here are four times more likely than their American counterparts to reach the major leagues.... Read more
J. Todd Billings is the Gordon H. Girod Research Professor of Reformed Theology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, MI. He is an award-winning author of various books including Union with Christ: Reframing Theology and Ministry for the Church. Todd’s latest book, Rejoicing in Lament: Wrestling with Incurable Cancer & Life in Christ framed this interview. David George Moore conducted the interview. Dave blogs at www.twocities.org. Moore: Please give our readers a sense of why Rejoicing in Lament is not... Read more
Nice place for a sabbatical morning walk. Let’s kick it off with this: Should NCAA basketball be reduced to a one-semester sport? So says Jamie Zaninovich: We’re at a point in college basketball where the trend lines aren’t positive. Attendance is down. So is scoring. The regular season is facing a relevancy issue. The quality of play, which can be traced back to the youth level, has dipped. We’re not at a point of desperation, but you don’t want to... Read more
The Closing of a Church, by John Frye Last Sunday the local church where I have served as pastor for nine years closed. Thankfully, it closed well, but not without tears. The church had a faithful, yet roller-coaster history and for reasons too cumbersome and complex for this post, the decision to close was a “severe mercy.” Severe in that it is always hard to end a church’s history and merciful because the faithful folks who hung in to the... Read more
Brian Zahnd, that prophet-like pastor and author on the edge of Missouri, is no stranger to calling American Christians to distinguish between America and the Christian church. It’s not that he wants Americans to abandon the country and head north to Canada or south to Mexico. No, he wants us to grasp that what we often think is “Christian” is only Americanism conceived as Christianity. The church … over to Brian for a moment: The church is a distinct way... Read more
Peter Holley: When Elrey “Bud” Runion and his wife, June, organized a meeting with a seller they’d found on Craigslist, the Atlanta couple thought they were one step closer to purchasing the 1966 Ford Mustang convertible that Bud so desperately wanted to drive. Authorities believe the Runions actually arranged for their own ambush, providing Ronnie “Jay” Towns with the opportunity to rob and kill the Georgia couple before dumping their bodies in a pond in rural Telfair County in January.... Read more
Chapter 12 of Iain Provan’s new book Seriously Dangerous Religion: What the Old Testament Really Says and Why It Matters finally turns to the New Testament, and the story many of us have wanted to dig into from the beginning. He has laid the foundation with a careful look at the Old Testament answer to 10 central questions. But what the Old Testament says matters to Christians because this story is our story. Christian faith is built on the old... Read more
By David George Moore. Dave blogs at Two Cities. Bear with me a bit, but some personal background is needed. Theologically, I have sympathies with a “Calvinistic” understanding of salvation, but a deeper commitment to the “consensual Christianity” that theologians like Wesleyan Tom Oden have written about. This is the Christianity which finds its anchor in “what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all.” I am a graduate of both Dallas Theological Seminary and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Towards... Read more
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